Spotify has removed tens of thousands of songs from artificial intelligence music startup Boomy, ramping up scrutiny of its platform amid complaints of fraud and clutter on streaming services.
In recent months, the music industry has been dealing with the rise of AI-generated songs and, more generally, the growing number of songs flooding streaming platforms on a daily basis.
Spotify, the largest audio streaming company, recently removed about 7 percent of songs uploaded by Boomy, the equivalent of “tens of thousands” of songs, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Recording giant Universal Music had reported to all major streaming platforms that it was seeing suspicious streaming activity on Boomy tracks, according to another person close to the situation.
The Boomy songs were removed due to suspected “artificial streaming” – online bots posing as human listeners to inflate viewership for certain songs.
AI has made this kind of activity easier as it allows one to instantly generate lots of music tracks which can then be uploaded and streamed online.
Boomy, which launched two years ago, allows users to choose different styles or descriptions, such as “rap beats” or “rainy nights”, to create a machine-generated song. Users can then release the music to streaming services, where they will generate royalty payments. California-based Boomy says its users have created more than 14 million songs.
Spotify confirmed that it had removed some Boomy content. “Artificial streaming is a long-standing, industry-wide problem that Spotify is trying to eradicate from our service,” the company said.
“We are always encouraged when we see our partners being vigilant around monitoring or activity on their platforms,” said Michael Nash, Universal’s chief digital officer.
The crackdown comes as music industry power broker Lucian Grainge has spoken out in recent months about the proliferation of songs on platforms like Spotify, where 100,000 new songs are added every day, and the increasing manipulation of the system.
Grainge, CEO of Universal, told investors last week that “the recent explosive development in generative AI, if left unchecked, will both increase the flood of unwanted content on platforms and create rights issues related to existing copyright law.”
While using artificial intelligence to create songs isn’t new, the issue has escalated to the forefront of music industry conversations in recent months. The streaming boom has spawned a range of services that offer artists the chance to buy their way to success. A Google search for “buy Spotify streams” returns millions of results, with sites like “spotistar.com” offering 1,000 Spotify plays for $6.
The Financial Times reported last month that Universal has sent a letter to streaming services asking them to crack down on the use of generative AI on their platforms. That same week, a song that used AI to mimic Drake and The Weeknd’s voices went viral on streaming platforms.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told analysts last week, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it in technology,” about how quickly AI technology was evolving.
Boomy resumed submitting new songs to Spotify over the weekend. The two sides negotiate the recovery of the rest of Boomy’s catalog. The company said: “Boomy is categorically against any form of manipulation or artificial streaming. We are working with industry partners to address this issue.”
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